Thursday, February 23, 2017

I know most people think about goal setting at the end of the year as they begin to think of the new year. Who thinks about it at the end of February? If you only think about goals at the beginning of a new year, how successful will you be.

I have a list of big goals for the year but have broken it down into smaller goals for shorter periods of time. One of my goals for 2017 is to read 52 books that is more than last year. Included in that goal are some specific categories of books that I want to read. One category was classics. I wanted to read six classics this year. I have already read 5 so I might adjust that goal.

Goals require planning. Both planning in what the goal is but also how you will complete that goal. So going back to my book goal, I picked 52 because it is a book a week and is more than last year. I have time in my schedule to read. I take a book with me when I have to wait for school pick up. That is part of the plan to reach that goal.

Meeting goals requires keeping track of information. I have a page in my planner where I track the books that I have read. It helps me to see how I working toward the goal. I enjoy tracking monthly what I have done.

I recently read the messies manual by Sandra Felton. I decided that while at one time in my life I was a messy (I am admitting that for my mother who remembers my bedroom as a child. ) I am no longer a messy. There was a chapter in there about goal setting and she had three C's to reach your goals -- change, commitment, and control. Here are some of my thoughts as I think about these three C's.

Goals require you to change. It might be how you use your time or it time be what you do. My goal of losing weight will only happen when I change what I am currently doing. While it is simple, it really can change the way you act. Are you willing to put in what is required in order to change and reach the goal you have.

Goals require commitment. Some goals take time. In the instant age we don't always want to put in the time that is needed to reach the goal.

Control is what you do to reach that goal. Control deciding saying yes to some things that will help me reach that goal and saying no to things that don't help me reach that goal.

So here at almost the end of February it might be a good time to think about goals and what is being done to achieve those goals this year. What are your goals? Which of the C's is the hardest for you?

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

I know ValentinesDay is the holiday created by the card/gift/chocolate companies. While it is that, it is also a time to just focus on God's love for us and from God's love flows the love we have to those around us. I am spending some time personally reflecting on God's love. I need to be reminded of how he loves me.

I have been pondering how God shows his love to us. One of the first verses that comes to mind is John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever

believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (ESV)

I know this is often one of the first verses we memorise but just looking at it we see much of how God loves us.

His love is demonstrated in his giving. He gives us his son.

His love is sacrificial. It is his only Son that he gives.

His love is good. What he has done is so that we won't perish and have eternal life.

When I struggle to love others, I need to just go deep into how God loves me. When I feel that others are not loving me, I need to remind myself that God loves me. I just finished reading Genesis. That might not be thought of as a book about God's love but as you read that book you do see God's love.

There is so much more I could write but at this time I am just going to go and spend some more time reading and reflecting on God's love.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

It is hard to believe that January 2017 is history. It is time to reflect on the month. That has been good for me to just reflect on what has happened. Putting it here has helped me to be a bit more accountable.

Some of my goals for 2017 might look like things from previous years.

1. Less Unfinished Projects - I wrote the 2017 list here. I finished one in January and my goal is to finish two in February.

2. Focused reading - Last year my goal was to deepen my reading of classics. I did that a bit. I also tracked the books I read and my total for 2016 was 48. I decided that in 2017 I want to read more books and have a varied focus. I want to read 6 classics, 6 books on prayer, 3 books on counselling, 6 books on productivity/life coaching, and 3 books on Christian living. That gives me plenty of time to read other things.

In January I read eight books. I think it was the dark cold evenings that sent me to bed early with a book. I got 4 classics, 1 book on prayer read as well as just some other fun books.

3. Relationships - In May it will be three years that we have lived here. I feel like I know people but I want to deepen relationships and also broaden them. I decided to challenge myself a bit and see if I can build more relationships. So some of the goals are as follows:

Coffee/tea with 24 friends - January 5 different people
Hospitality - 12 times - we sneaked January's in on the 31st.
Letters - 48 - January I wrote 13 notes (maybe I should make that number bigger)
Birthday cards - 48 - I sent 1.

4. Less stuff - I discovered a chart to declutter 2017 things in 2017. I printed it and put it in my cabinet. My January count was 147. I wonder if I can go higher in February.

What am I looking forward to in February? Celebrating someone special's birthday, finishing some projects, going away with Miss K for the weekend, and seeing how many books I can read from my stack.